Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, the Sony World Photography Awards is the world's largest photography competition. The awards recognize and reward the finest contemporary photography from the last year entered into any of the awards’ four competitions.

"There was a truly global reach to the Sony World Photography Awards judging this year- the images were more diverse and broad ranging than I have ever seen before.In its tenth year, I can confidently say that the Sony World Photography Awards and the fine art of photography are doing extremely well." Zelda Cheatle, Chair of the Professional jury / Curator (UK)

The shortlisted (top 10) and commended (top 50) photographers for all categories of the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards, the world’s largest photography competition, are announced today. Photographers entered 227,596 images across the awards’ Professional, Open and Youth competitions – shining a spotlight on the medium of photography and the beauty of its art.

Produced by the World Photography Organisation, 2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the awards and a decade-long partnership with its headline sponsor, Sony.

The Sony World Photography Awards’ shortlist represents the world's finest contemporary photography captured over the last year, and displays a huge diversity of extraordinary images in terms of genres, styles and subject matter. Forty-nine countries are represented on the shortlist, reinforcing the awards’ international appeal and unique ability to present the greatest images taken by photographers from all corners of the world on a truly global scale. Photographers from a further 11 countries are seen within the commended list.

The shortlisted photographers across the Professional, Open, Youth and Student Focus competitions impressed the judges with solid narratives and strong visual language complementing the subject matters. Within the shortlist are stunning architectural images and subtle landscapes alongside extraordinary series depicting the dominating world events of the last year. Stand out subject matters include a touching insight into the domestic life of women in Saudi Arabia, heartfelt confessions of Chinese school children, Russian body builders preparing to flex muscle on stage and an intimate series of a private battle with a rare medical condition.

Professional competition saw a 13 % increase in the number of photographers entering their work.

183 countries were represented in the submissions – with the most entries coming from (in descending order): China, United Kingdom, Italy, United States, Germany, Russia, India, Spain, France and Poland.

49 countries are represented on the shortlist, with the most shortlisted photographers coming from Italy (22), UK (18), Germany (17), China (14) and Russia (11).

Armenia, Cuba, Iceland and Saudi Arabia represented for the first time on the shortlist.

Please see Notes to Editors for full list of shortlisted photographers. To view the commended photographers of the Open competition please go to www.worldphoto.org/winners-galleries

Commenting about this year's shortlist, Scott Gray, CEO, World Photography Organisation, notes: “This year, more than any other, the entries to the Sony World Photography Awards have shown great integrity and are characterized by their considered approach. Beautiful works of photographic art, not snapshots, have been presented to the judges and I am delighted to see that our esteemed juries have chosen to reward the pure skill, artistic interpretation and thoughtfulness of the photographer, rather than simply the subject matter the photographer has captured.

He continues: “The Sony World Photography Awards has celebrated photographers and photography throughout its ten-year history, we now look forward to ensuring that photography has a global platform and is recognised as the dynamic, exciting and accessible medium it is.”

The Sony World Photography Awards are judged anonymously by internationally acclaimed industry professionals, carefully selected by the World Photography Organisation.

Commenting on the Open and Youth shortlists, Damien Demolder said: “It has been a pleasure and an inspiration to be exposed to such a volume of great work, and a privilege too that I could share in the personal moments, the joys, tears, life and losses of photographers from all around the globe who recorded their experiences through their pictures. The Youth competition was a special delight to judge and I was touched on many occasions by the openness and fearless expression of the entries.”

Student Focus judge Andrea Kurland adds: "This year's shortlist helps cement why awards like these are more important than ever. The work submitted was original, thoughtful and brave - a healthy reminder that talent will always win out and rise above the noise."

The shortlisted photographers now compete for the latest Sony digital imaging equipment and inclusion in the 2017 awards’ book plus cash prizes of $25,000 (USD) for the Photographer of the Year, $5,000 (USD) for the overall Open winner and €30,000(Euros) of equipment for the university of the Student Focus winner. All winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 20, 2017.

The winning, shortlisted and commended images will all be exhibited as part of the Sony World Photography Awards & Martin Parr - 2017 Exhibition at Somerset House, London. The large-scale exhibition will open April 21 and will feature rarely seen work by Martin Parr, recipient of the awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography prize. The exhibition will run in London until May 7 and will then go on a worldwide tour. Exhibition tickets are available via www.worldphoto.org/2017exhibition

Rewarding the best body of work across 10 categories. Up to 10 photographers shortlisted in each category. Category winners will be announced April 20, alongside the Photographer of the Year chosen from the ten category winners.

Architecture

Adi Bulboacă, Romania

Alessandro Piredda, Italy

Alissa Everett, US (based in Kenya)

Diego Mayon, Italy

Dongni, China

Julien Chatelin, France

Marvin Systermans, Germany

Zsolt Hlinka, Hungary

Conceptual

Alexander Anufriev, Russia

Carla Sutera Sardo, Italy

Jeroen De Wandel, Belgium

João San, Brazil

Sabine Cattaneo, Switzerland

Gao Peng, China

Contemporary Issues

Amber Bracken, Canada

Andrea Foligni, Italy

Danial Khodaie, Iran

Javier Arcenillas, Spain

Li Song, China

Lorenzo Maccotta, Italy

Tasneem Alsultan, Saudi Arabia

Current Affairs & News

Alessio Romenzi, Italy

Asger Ladefoged, Denmark

Ivor Prickett, Ireland

Javier Arcenillas, Spain

Joe Raedle, US

Karl Mancini, Italy

Paşa İmrek, Turkey

Sebastian Castañeda, Peru

Daily Life

Alice Cannara Malan, Italy

Asger Ladefoged, Denmark

Christina Simons, Iceland (based in Australia)

Ioana Moldovan, Romania

Majlend Bramo, Italy

Michael Tummings, UK

Nader Saadallah, Egypt

Sandra Hoyn, Germany

Toby Binder, Germany

Yulia Grigoryants, Armenia

Landscape

Dino Kuznik, Slovenia

Frederik Buyckx, Belgium

Jayanta Roy, India

Kurt Tong, UK

Peter Franck, Germany

Tom Jacobi, Germany

Natural World

Ami Vitale, US

Christian Vizl, Mexico

Esther Whyatt, UK

Felicity McCabe, UK

Mariusz Prusaczyk, Poland

Tommaso Rada, Italy (based in Brazil)

Will Burrard-Lucas, UK

Portraiture

Craig Easton, UK

Dario Mitidieri, Italy

George Mayer, Russia

Giulia Piermartiri & Edoardo Delille, Italy

Mahesh Shantaram, India

Romina Ressia, Argentina

Ren shi Chen, China

Snezhana von Buedingen, Russia (based in Germany)

Sport

Andrea Rossato, Italy

Eduard Korniyenko, Russia

Jason O'Brien, Australia

Mark Gong, US

Yuan Peng, China

Luo Pin Xi, China

Still Life

Ansgar Sollmann, Germany

Julien Caïdos, France

Christoffer Askman, Denmark

Grant Hegedus, UK

Henry Agudelo, Colombia

Paul Sanders, UK

Shinya Masuda, Japan

OPEN CATEGORIES

Rewarding the best single images across 10 categories. Up to 10 photographers shortlisted in each category. Category winners will be announced March 28, and Open Photographer of the Year revealed April 20.

The Professional competition of the Sony World Photography Awards is judged by an independent panel of industry experts selected by the World Photography Organisation. The headline sponsor of the awards, Sony, is not involved in the image selection of judging of this competition.

About World Photography Organisation The World Photography Organisation is a global platform for photography initiatives. Working across up to 180 countries, our aim is to raise the level of conversation around photography by celebrating the best imagery and photographers on the planet.

We pride ourselves on building lasting relationships with both individual photographers and our industry-leading partners around the world.We host a year-round portfolio of events including: the Sony World Photography Awards (the world's largest photography competition, marking its 10th anniversary in 2017), various local meetups/talks throughout the year, and PHOTOFAIRS, International Art Fairs Dedicated to Photography, with destinations in Shanghai and San Francisco.

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, imaging, game, communications, key device and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. With its music, pictures, computer entertainment and online businesses, Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading electronics and entertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidated annual sales of approximately $72 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. Sony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.net/